Antiscamp's Frontier mod for Skyrim

Monthly Archives: February 2015

I want to surround the big main island with smaller ones. It makes the worldspace seem bigger. It’s really a great way to create an illusion of a bigger world, especially since I like creating these smaller islands too. This is the latest of my islands, which I just finished. Or, no, it’s not finished yet, because it still needs some detailing.

I keep getting distracted by other games! Europa Universalis released a DLC this past week as well, and, as I said before, I was playing Attila Total War as well earlier, being distracted from my modding. I have so many games now, that they’d last me a lifetime. I always return to the Elder Scrolls though.

OK. This post is going to be covering a new game I’m playing and explaining my absence again from modding.

Those of you who know me, also know that I’m a big fan of the Total War series. Right now I’m completely lost in the latest instalment in the series, Attila Total War. It’s just an excellent game. I was kinda disappointed in Rome II Total War at first, when it came out in 2013, but stuck with it and played it quite a lot. Attila is the Total War that Rome II should have been from the start.

The game constantly pushes challenges and events towards its player that makes it continually exciting and intriguing. Rome II Total War didn’t manage to hold my attention like this. Also, the atmosphere is really awesome in this game. You really feel like you’re trying to lead and protect a population from the menace of Barbarian invasion, aggressive neighbours and starvation during a really turbulent and dangerous, apocalyptic, era in Human history.

Attila Total War is completely different from the previous Total Wars, and yet, it’s so similar! I get a distinct feeling with Attila of the previous great games like Rome 1 and Medieval 2, a feeling I never got with Rome 2. Attila takes inspiration mainly from those previous great titles, but also, clearly from Crusader Kings II by Paradox, which is another favourite game of mine. And that’s an excellent thing!

I did not pre-order Attila. I waited for the user reviews (I don’t trust mainstream media game reviews at all), but Attila has restored my confidence in Creative Assembly. God, I’m stuck in the game, it’s so great! So modding Azura’s Watch is on the slower side again. Just give me some time with Attila and his Huns.

The image above shows what Azura’s Watch looked like back in July last year, when I had just begun designing the town, and the image below show what it looks like today. We’ve come a long way on this one. I’ve been promising a proper release date back in December, but I couldn’t keep it. I don’t know when I’ll publish it on the Nexus. The initial goal with the mod was just to make a little island paradise for a bit of exploration for the player, but it’s developed into such a lot more than that. I won’t give any estimates on release date. In fact, this just has to take the time it requires. In the meantime, I may release a beta or two still. Keep your eyes on this blog!

OK, people. If you want to work with the Creation Kit in any way, and especially on big things like Azura’s Watch, the main requirement is Patience. I just worked on a thing for half an hour and then it crashed randomly, as usual, and I lost half an hour’s work right there. It’s no fun doing that thing all over again, I can tell you. But I’ll do it anyway when my nerves have settled.

Sometimes I wonder why I’m taking all this crap and still doing it. I had seven game crashed yesterday before I got it stabilized. I do this because I really want to do it. I really want to witness the splendour and beauty of the finished product. To any new Creation Kit users, I can only recommend investing a lot of time, huge amounts of patience and an iron will into any project. The end result is always worth it!

I’ve been wasting all day on NavMeshing, filling holes and fixing minor problems. Actually, that’s not wasting time at all. It’s part of perfection.

At least I made another NPC in Colonia. I think I have room for a few more NPC’s to roam the streets and create life. This one is a Redguard. A proper one. I’m traditionalist, and want Redguards to look Sub-Saharan African like in Morrowind and Oblivion and not North African like in Skyrim.